Leading some missionaries around

After Dave, furious at Pallando’s, (and possibly a bit of myself”s), meddling with his wager with the Goddess of Knowledge, (Ioun), made a hasty departure down the slide-that-was-once-a-set-of-stairs, the group weighed their options. I decided to begin traveling down the stairs-turned-slides-turned-stairs once again, warning the Goddess that metal sliding down a stone slide would ruin the quiet atmosphere of the library. Pallando and Treehugger stayed behind to ask a few questions of the Goddess, and hearing of answers being given, I journeyed back up to ask questions of my own. Pallando’s questions were had in secret, with ominous warnings being given of his new patron. Treehugger learned the whereabouts of her former master, now known to be the famous monk Brothzar. And I… Well, I learned that the events of this past’s present aren’t set in stone. My people still have a chance at salvation, it would seem. We bid the Goddess farewell, and began our trek down the staircase, to meet a disgruntled Dave at the bottom. We joined back up with the missionaries, who hadn’t had the best time trying to convert the reading citizens of Ioun’s encampment.

We then continued on to the next town of Moradin, where the clangings of hammer against anvil greeted us from far off. The blacksmiths we met, about fifty in number, informed Pallando of their work in creating a mystical invention by the design of Moradin. This invention would be a moving, metal fortress. We were then pointed towards where we would find this architect, inside his gleaming fortress of metal. He sat, designing the invention that we’d heard of so far. He looked up, and greeted us warmly. Except for myself, though. Apparently he doesn’t like my God, Zehir, very much. At any rate, he relayed his intentions for us to bring him Enterei when we get the chance, and that he was planning on using the moving fortress to find the “dwarves” that Enterei had begged for him to send. Pallando then asked him about anything that may have changed with him physically. That is when he revealed the huge hammer behind his throne, and lifted it to his shoulder with one hand. His physical strength showcased, and Pallando properly pissing his pants, I asked for permission to stay the night in his town. He granted the others stay, but due to my allegiance to Zehir, informed me to stay the night outside of town. He told me of something new, that Zehir had had a plan to return the cast of Gods and Goddesses to their own time, but “abandoned” them for some unknown reason. After some playful jestering by Pallando, (or ignorant blasphemy to mine own ears), Moradin relented, and said that he’d allow me to stay in the town for the night. Naturally, I declined. After spending the night in the wilds, I met back up with the others, and we began our trek to the town of Vecna.

Well, town is the operative word. When we arrived, the place was just a collection of ruins, surrounded in a perpetual fog. The missionaries, unsurprisingly, elected to stay at the outskirts of town, as I led the others in an exploration of the ruins. We eventually found a small wooden door in the middle of the ruins that led down into the ground. We ventured downwards, eventually coming to what appeared to be an underground home of sorts. Darkness greeted us in all directions, and a nauseating stench filled the stale air. We traveled further down the dark hallway, the smell intensifying. Pallando paused in order to cast Clairivoyance, stopping the party for a few seconds as he gathered what was up ahead. After he came out of his trance, he relayed to us that there used to be people living here, but that they had been murdered, and that the remains of their fingers were strewn up ahead. Without skipping a beat, he began to lead us further into the darkness. After a moment of shock, I demanded he stop, and think on what he had just said. After some arguing about how asinine it was to keep going, Pallando casted invisibility on the group, and began leading forward again. I briefly considered leaving him to perish in the hellish tunnel, but since he was the party member I was the closest to, and it would take some time to get another friend, I reluctantly followed. We quickly came across the strewn fingers, and after some more time, we came across more remains: hands. It was clear these were the hands that the fingers had come from, as they all had their own fingers missing. It was then that Pallando and I noticed chanting coming from further up the tunnel. After a few minutes, the hallway opened up into a chamber of sorts, with us standing on a semi-circular platform, twin staircases leading down. Thirty feet below us, a room fifty feet by fifty feet stood, with a conical set of stone daises. Cultists knelt upon the daises, each missing their left hands. They led up to the very top, where a man sat on a stone throne. Pallando attempted REDACTED and so we left. We informed the missionaries of the unlikelihood of success in gathering converts inside, and we continued on to Raquen’s encampment.

My first thoughts upon viewing the town were encompassed by the huge murders of ravens scattered throughout the town. The sounds of laughter, moaning, screaming, yelling, and sobbing surrounded us as we walked further into the village. Pallando approached a man with misshapen/missing legs, who informed us that he’d lost them in the construction of their Goddess’s palace. Many others died, and he left us with the thought that death is natural, and should be celebrated. As we walked away, he thanked us for not pitying him. Naturally, Pallando apologized for the state the man was in, and I ushered him away as the man began to sob. Eventually, we came across a huge bird cage, rivalling the size of Moradin’s palace. We entered though a cage door, and Pallando got the first glimpse inside. He said that he saw fifteen people dancing inside, enraptured with the woman seated on a raised chair, embedded into the wall. After the last few camps, it was easy to tell that this was Raquen. Ravens circiled far above us, numbering in the hundreds. Pallando and I began to approach the figure, as she held up her hand, a single finger raised. In unison, the fifteen people spouted, “Pity not the dead, for they are in a better place.” She raised a second finger and in turn the people, now behind her, stated. “Bring down those who would escape their fate.” Finally, as she was nearing us, she raised a third finger, with the people behind her shouting, “Destroy those who would change the natural order!” We greeted her as she neared, and began our discussion. She informed us that the missionaries would be allowed to preach, but we would not be allowed to help them. After some discussion, and our introductions, she showed particular interest in Treehugger, who stayed to talk with the Goddess as Pallando and I went to lead the missionaries inside. After some time, we returned to an increased celebration. Treehugger was perched right next to Raquen’s throne, and shared some of her “drugs” with the Goddess. After a good hour of attempted conversion, the missionaries gave up. Around this time, the party flew into something past full swing. People were injuring themselves with just the act of dancing, with one man tripping over a table. His neck cracked upon impact with the ground, and the murder of ravens descended upon the fresh corpse. As the body was picked clean, Pallando, the missionaries, and myself agreed that it was time to go. As we rushed to leave, Raquen shouted out to Treehugger, pronouncing her as emissary to the Raven Queen.

As the light of day was fading, we made our way towards the encampment of Palor. However, as we neared the camp, a force prevented Pallando and myself from getting any further. As I attempted to lean against this invisible force, plants rose from the ground and forced me away. Grass then sprouted on the other side of the border forming words that informed us that as emissaries of chaos, Pallando and I wouldn’t be allowed through. As I began to make my own sleeping arrangements, use to this cool treatment, Pallando attempted to talk his way into the domain. I couldn’t help but overhear Pallando calling Zehir a, well, “bitch”. It was at this point that I backhanded him across the face. From the look of it, he appeared to take the message. We told the missionaries to carry on without us, and as Treehugger led them to the encampment, I returned to preparing for the night. Pallando, not quite accepting defeat, informed me of what he had planned: he’d use four enlargement casts on himself, and attempt overpower the forest defenses. Seeing nothing but a boring night ahead of myself, and wanting something to lighten part of it, I egged Pallando on. As he cast the spells upon himself, I already knew that he’d fail. But, it would be funny to watch, so I did nothing but sit back as a 281 foot Pallando began to stomp his way through the barrier. At first, it seemed like nothing would come to stop him. Then, a humongous barrier of plant life rose to block his way, forcing him to head back to our “camp”. Pallando expressed a desire to travel straight to Zehir’s town, but knowing that dead missionaries didn’t pay nearly as well as the living variety, I declined. Someone had to guard them as they traveled to our town, and I certainly didn’t trust Treehugger to do it alone. Not wanting to waste time, or perhaps simply trying to annoy me, Pallando attempted to pick me up. Mistake number two, as I brought my flail up to meet his grasping hands. It was as Pallando lay, apparently floored by what should have just been an average swing, that I remembered something about the Ape-Man’s Flail being used to kill giants. Needless to say, he didn’t bother me for the rest of the night. I did heal him, though, as I’m not completely without mercy. Eventually, Treehugger returned with the missionaries, and we began our trip to the best encampment: Zehir’s.

We arrived to admiration from Zehir’s followers, glad to see their God’s emissary returned. The clerics that I sent this way seemed to have done their jobs, as the citizens appeared to no longer be affected by the snake bites they had been plagued with earlier. Speaking of which, the snakes that had swarmed the town appeared to no longer be present, with the only one being the one coiled on Zehir’s head as we walked up to his throne. He allowed the mercenaries to preach, and explained that he’d begun to garner more control of his powers. He also explained how he’d been forced to leave the ship after Lolth threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave the ship with her. After we both expressed our thanks for various actions, we all drank, and slept in town for the night.

Speaking of drink, that’s exactly what we were in for when we went to visit the next Goddess’s encampment: Avandra. The only structure in sight was a large canvas tent, which housed long drinking tables, stocked full with drunken partiers chugging ale. Avandra jumped up to greet us, jumping across the tables to get to the entrance, where we were standing. She drunkenly welcomed us, and asked who we were. After our introductions, she called Lolth a “bitch”, at which point Pallando informed her that Lolth wanted to tell her to stop “drunk pigeoning” her. With some more swearing and drunken rumblings, she declared that she wanted to go on an adventure. It was at that point that the entire tent was packed up, and Avandra led the partiers west. We followed, and after some time, Avandra stopped, and the tent was pitched once again. As Avandra went to continue partying, the missionaries lamented the Goddess’s current form, saying that she had once been the noble leader of the Pantheon, until the dissolution of said Pantheon destroyed her. Pallando said that he thought otherwise. Finally, we returned to South Twin Lakes, where we rested, awaiting our next set of escapes and wonders.

I decided to leave south twin lake. Being lawful, and needing coin, I offered my services to the church. The priest quickly offered Mindartis, Pallando, Tree Hugger, and me a job escorting and protecting missionaries down to the encampment of Lolth. The missionaries want to travel first to Lolth, spread the holy word there, then proceed on to the city of Ioun from there, to Moradin, Vecna, Raquen, Pelor, Zehir, and finally to Avandra. From there we will travel back to South Twin Lake. We agreed to protect and travel with them for a price of 20 Gold each to start, and an additional 5 Gold per day per protector.

Our journey began at a brisk, sunrise nearing Winter of year 523. Our first days travel to Lolth Encampment passed uneventfully until reaching Lolth at sundown. At that time, as we approached the outskirts of the camp with the missionaries, Pallando and I noticed something odd. We saw a number of white web like structures within the camp. In the twilight, Pallando could not tell what they were, but I realized quickly that they were hundreds of spider webs, of all shapes and sizes covering the camp. Before approaching the camp further, we consulted brothers Andre and Aron about the matter. They both looked on in horror saying quietly, “This is the work of the devil”.

After they composed themselves, they proposed searching the camp for survivors, who might be willing to convert back to Polytheism after being rescued and seeing the light. Seeing as they are clerics we thought it safe enough to explore the edges of the camp to get an idea of what had happened here, and look for survivors. I approached the edge of the nest of webs and realized that the webs were actually growing constantly, as if enchanted, and expanding outward slowly. Seeing no creatures, I took my Vorpal Blade and sliced through a small chunk of jutting webs. They fell effortlessly, and as I touched the webs with my hands. They shot away, from me by about 5 feet. Seeing this, Pallando began to walk through the webs, and they parted like an enchanted sea in his path.

It was at this time that Pallando realized a similar set of events had occurred at the camp of Zehir involving snakes. He proposed that Lolth may be a goddess of Spiders. He walked forward quickly toward the largest tent in the camp but quickly disappeared into the darkness of night. As I called out his name, he responded at a distance and told me that he had been grabbed by an unknown something and dragged into a tent. He advised me to move forward with caution, so I opted to light a torch before moving toward the sound of his voice, lest the same creature or force try to apprehend me.

As I prepared my torch, having set down my sword for the time being, my flint and torch were knocked from my hand with such swiftness I barely knew what had happened before I was myself drug into a separate tent and hushed by a quiet voice. “The goddess wishes not to be disturbed! Swear you will be quiet and we will unhand you.” I swore, and regained my poise, leaving the tent to retrieve my things, I discovered Pallando and Tree Hugger also outside. Hugger had already retrieved the Vorpal Blade and gave it to me again as I approached him.

Not phased by the recent encounter Pallando continued his route to the largest tent. I simply assumed he had a similar encounter in his tent. We entered the central tent of the camp and looked on at a beautiful woman, laying, topless, on a silken pillow. Lolth addressed us, “You have disturbed me, what is the meaning of this?” Pallando greeted her kindly, having met her before, and she exchanged pleasantries with him, while also quickly having her children bind all three of us in mere seconds. It was at this time that the her spider children drug away myself and Tree Hugger, away leaving only Pallando in her presence. I attempted to free myself with the Vorpal Blade still in my hands under the webbing , but only managed to gash my side with the enchanted blade, cutting myself deeply.

Some time passed, but eventually, Tree Hugger and I were launched from the tent landing hard where Mindartis and the missionaries still stood. It wasn’t until morning that we got the news that Pallando had become the Emissary of Lolth. Having recovered magically from most of our injuries, we all headed off to the next stop, the city of Ioun. Ioun is a town of scholars and readers, they walk the streets with their heads buried in books.

In the middle of the city stands a large tower. Here the missionaries set up and started preaching the teachings of the gods to the towns people. It was then that we were approached by a group of guardians, looking us up and down. Pallando introduced himself and Mindartis as Emissaries, and we were allowed to enter the tower. From within the tower looked to be hundreds if not thousands of times bigger.

We approached a grand spiral staircase, and upon reaching the top, we found Ioun, studying a powerful light source. Upon greeting her, she shushed all of us, and directed us back down out of her study. I proceeded on, as told, but the others stayed for a moment.

As I looked back up the stairs, I simply saw Pallando shrink before my eyes. Not seeing him shrink down next to him, Mindartis called out, “Pallando, where have you gone?” But quickly looking down, he saw the 2.4 foot tall Pallando standing at his feet. At this point, Ioun turned from her study, angrily, “WHAT DO YOUWANT?” she shouted at the short Pallando. Sarcastically he answered in a high pitched voice,“Well first of all, I’d like to grow back to normal size.” Annoyed, she responded, “You know as well as I, the spell will ware off soon enough. Now, what do you want?” Pallando again piped up, “Look your people sent us to you saying that you’d like to speak with us.” Taken by surprise, she conceded, “I am looking for a champion of sorts, yes, but none of you nearly fit the requirements.”

Knowing that Pallando had just earned rank as an Emissary of Lolth, I desired the same status, and as I had been on good footing with Ioun when I had first met her as she arrived in this land, I spoke up from the stairs where I had been waiting, “I beg to differ madam, you are looking for a champion of mental prowess. Ask me any question and I will answer. This will prove my quality.” She stood quietly for a few moments, then devised a test. pulling three wooden cups from her sleeve, and a platinum from her opposite sleeve, she hid the platinum under the rightmost cup then said, “If you can tell me where the platinum is after these cups have been shuffled, you will have proven your worth Dave.” I stared vigilantly as the test began, and she moved the cups to and fro across the table. Strangely, weather by the strong magical forces in the room or by the exhaustion I was still under from walking up the grand stairs for 30 minutes, I fell drowsy as the test went on and lost exact track of the cup containing the platinum.

Still determined to pass the test, I decided that I knew that the platinum was not under the middle cup, and made this announcement, upon lifting the cup, I was proven correct, as nothing was under the cup. This left only the left and right cups to choose from. Pallando, having not been befallen by the same spell of drowsiness that had befallen me as the cups were sorted, had easily kept track of the one covering the platinum. Seeing me delay in solving the riddle, he walked to the table and declared,“It’s obviously under the right cup!” and proceeded to lift his choice. Sure enough, the platinum was revealed. Unfortunately, despite my objections to his interference, and pleading that I simply wished to build suspense, Ioun uncaringly looked at me and said, “My point is proven. You can go now.”

Ashamed at my failure at solving such a simple puzzle, I walked to the stair case, prepared to wait outside. As I reached the first step, the stairs immediately transformed into a grand stone slide, I caught my footing and was able to slide down on my back, but was still injured upon reaching the bottom at high speed. Just as I began to fall, I heard Ioun say clearly to my companions ,“Well, we will just call it a revenge move.” and laugh as I fell away from hearing distance. Having no idea why she would want to exact revenge on me, and being further embarrassed to have been tossed from her quarters by a trapped staircase, I decided that I had had enough of the present quest. I gathered the Vorpal Sword, kept by the Guardians while I had been visiting the great library, and made my way directly back to South Twin Lake to gather my thoughts and rest. I left the rest of my party to continue on their adventure with the missionaries.

Arena: a 100 ft. diameter ice cavern with a large 15 ft. tall mountain of gold and other treasures.
One young white dragon, standing about 8 ft. tall and 24 ft. long.

The battle: It’s worth noting that the orks have a very traditional view on everything they do. This includes the fight with the dragon. They challenge the dragon in a fight for his blood. They don’t want to kill the dragon; but rather, knock it out to drain his blood for the ale. This tradition has been going on for generations for both orks and dragons alike. Mindartis, Enteri, and two orks decided to charge the dragon head first dealing a good amount of damage in the first bout. Pallando decides to stay behind to cast a powerful ice shield that could protect him from the dragon’s ice breath. Klaus uses magic to jump onto it’s back. Ice breath rips through the party; killing two of our orks and severely wounding Mindartis and Enteri. Pallando shrugs off the blow and leads the charge, with Mindartis and Enteri in his wake, at the dragon head on with his staff in hand. Klaus runs up the dragon’s neck and smacks the side of the dragon’s head with the flat of his blade; the goal was not to kill, but to subdue the dragon into submission. The dragon attacks again, but clumsily misses and slams his face into the ground right next to Mindartis. Mindartis begins channeling his inner pirate and begins running up the dragon’s snoot and grabs a horn like the mast of a ship. He begins to assault the face with no mercy as the dragon tries to shake him off. Everyone gives him one last powerful shot…. and he collapses.

Aftermath: We managed to take the whole pile of gold and treasure, thanks to the seconna and their powerful magics that allowed us to literally carry a whole horde in just two carts. We run as fast as we can back to the portal to bring us home.

Corrin Aledrinker had requested that we help him learn and brew a legendary “Ale” called Dragon’s Blood Ale. We had to recruit help from the grey ork tribes to obtain this recipe.
1. Northerns Snow Hops
2. young white dragon’s blood
3. Brain burn chillies
4. Lighting torched orkwood (can be hit by natural or magical lighting)
5. glacial melt water
6. white + brown ground-rice pods
7. dragon burned copper barrel hoops (as explained, this just needs to be hit by the the breath of any dragon)

During the chaos of the stock market fiasco, Pallando approached me. I set aside my new flail, and listened to this proposition. Knowing that I planned on heading to the Eledrin Court, and he wanted to find the rest of Darrel, he suggested that we combine our tasks. I considered it, and agreed that it would make the trek to the Court more interesting at the very least. So, after Darrel pointed us in the direction of his first limb, we headed out. Unfortunately, the first lead led us straight to the Pelt Tribe, where we were informed that we were not allowed in until we helped procure the ale ingredients. Annoying, but understandable. So, we went with the alternative: Darrel’s other leg. More important than the arm, I figure at any rate. I imagine that hopping around on one leg has to be tiresome. South east was the direction, and wouldn’t you know it, it just happened to point towards the area Zehir’s acolytes claimed after the whole religious uprising in South Twin Lake, (Cough cough, No idea how that happened, cough cough) As we stopped in their town, I couldn’t help but notice the massive sea of snakes clustered outside an elegant looking manor. Well, I say clustered, it was more like a miniature sea of snakes, waves of them constantly breaking against the door. My intrigue was peaked, so naturally, I walked through the snakes to knock on the door. Lo and behold, my Lord and Savior answered the door. Well, maybe. It’s still so hard to tell what’s going on with the gods in this timeline. At any rate, after a long a meaningful discussion where my deity definitely didn’t act like a scared pussycat, (turns out he doesn’t like snakes and had no idea why they were gathered outside), I managed to convince him to face his fears, through the use of persuasion, honesty, and a good deal of alcohol. It all culminated in him ordering the snakes to leave, which, they did. As a reward for helping him, he named me as his head priest. I accepted, deciding to just see where this whole religion/god thing went. It was only afterward, when Pallando and I had resumed our journey, that I realized I’d been there to witness his first holy command, which was to dis-spell his fervent followers. Not the best start, but hey, it was something. After some travel, we came to our destination: a small sand mound right next to where the nearby river emptied into the sea. Yeah, definitely not a trap. After both of us came to the conclusion that neither of us knew how to find traps, let alone disarm them, we had a bit of an argument concerning who would open the chest. Eventually, it was agreed that I should stand guard for the inevitable ambush, while Pallando opened the chest. Sure enough, inside there was Darrel’s missing leg, resting amongst a pile of copper and platinum. As we estimated what we could managed to carry back, we both heard the sound of something emerging from the water behind us. As we turned to face the danger behind us, we braced ourselves for whatever horror we were about to face. Instead, we wheeled around to face a single, ugly fish man. Despite the pitiful nature of this “guardian”, Darrel urged us to run. Being the awesomely brave and heroic paladin that I am, I agreed for the sake of Pallando’s pitiful lack of armor. We emboldenly began our tactical retreat back to warn the others, after Pallando forced the creature to feign death. We’d gained significant ground from the unconscious foe when suddenly, a viscous bubble landed near us. We set the chest aside and turned around, ready to deal with a groggy, pissed off merman. Instead, we were facing twenty nine of them. With spears. And tridents. And nets, and crossbows of the heavy variety. As they closed in on us, we huddled up, discussing our options. While I attempted to summon some of the dispersed snakes from earlier, Pallando cast several mirror images of himself, and tested out whether he and the clones could carry the chest and run while I attempted to stave them off (Not staying behind to the bitter end or anything like that. I like treasure, but I’m not going to trade my life so Pallando can come back somewhat richer.). Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on whose point of view, his test failed. Luckily enough though, we received reinforcements right before we began our charge against the enemy: a heavily poisonous cobra. As we made contact with the enemy, merman being struck down left and right by staff, flail, and cobra, the seven mermen with crossbows made a point of trying to pepper me with enough quarrels that I could be mistaken by for a large, misshapen porcupine. Only two managed to get through my armor, though. Pallando really pulled through, scores of the mermen falling to him and his mirror images, many of which attempted to fight back only to have their weapons stab right through the clones. Eventually, realizing that they had almost no chance of winning without significant losses, a good half the original number of mermen fled, leaving two behind as sacrificial lambs. Hey, I wasn’t complaining. One of the buggers tried to shoot my snake!
(Side note: Reptilian creature, not what you were thinking with your dirty mind, CORRIN). After the slaughter was over, we were not only still standing with a relatively small number of wounds, we had garnered a significant number of weapons from the small contingent. As Pallando and I pondered over which items to bring back, Darrel pulled all of them into a floating, magical bubble of water, warning us that they’d have to be oiled after we got back to South Twin Lake. Pallando and I began to follow him back after he started heading out without us, ready to get some shut eye after a busy day.

In Search of the Flail of the Apeman

We’ve been hanging around in South Twin Lake forever, it seems. Recently, Mindartis, Fabio, Andrea, Pallando, Enteri, Klaus, and I (Corrin) got together to discuss our options. It seems each of the races has something they’d like us to do for them… the Pelt Tribe wants help finding ingredients for ale (my second favorite option); the leprechauns have requested our help in a border dispute somewhere in the Fay realms; etc. I convinced everyone that it was high time Mindartis found a weapon of power, as he is the founder of our group, and still without one. We’d heard rumors of a flail with great magic, the Flail of the Apeman. In fact, the rumors said it was most likely in the Saurian Temple… so that’s where we headed.

On the way, the leprechauns asked again if we’d help them, and we assured them we would… but had a different task first. When we got to the Saurian city, we found them just beginning a Harvest Fest. Thanks to our previous help, they’re crop yields were three times greater than ever before! They allowed us access to their temple, although we later found out that wasn’t such a big deal.

After searching most of the first level, getting separated via magical trap, and battling giant horse flies, we managed to exit the temple. Pallando had made it out of the temple before the rest of us, and rather than try to find his way back, had wandered the stalls of the Saurian market and found and purchased a temple map, and keys!

After recovering for several days, we reentered the temple, this time with map and keys in hand. We explored the few rooms we’d missed previously on the first level, then headed down to the second, where we met and were attacked by a party of 10 men. After easily dispatching six of them, the rest surrendered, and we learned they, too, had been granted access and purchased a map of the place. In questioning them, we learned they’d been looting the temple for several weeks, and spending it as fast as they earned it… so most of the treasure was long gone. We kept the treasure they’d been carrying, and turned them over to the chief for his gladiatorial games… oh yeah, and it turned out two of them had been Enteri’s squires. Only one of them lived to leave the temple.

Anyway, it turned out they’d found the Flail, and so, while Enteri trained, the rest of us negotiated our shares of the treasure and the magic items still owned by the group, and in the end, Mindartis was able to purchase all seven shares of the Flail. May it serve him well. We returned to South Twin Lake, where I’m writing this now. I believe I’ll try to convince my companions it is time to assist the Orcs of the Pelt Tribe next!

the world of the gauntlet on the brink

a new character joins the fray

a brief history of the twelve

The original twelve eledrin were brought into this wild and chaotic world rather by mistake. In fact, they began their lives as elves in a rather central portion of their kingdom in the westergreen forest. When the time came for their right of passage, they sang their traditional song of transformation; during which, one key phrase was left out that kept them tied to the natural world and out of the fey. this mistake created the twelve, but no more. Any elf following in their footsteps has ended up dead, or hideously disfigured without so much as a hint of why it worked the first time. after some time, the elves came to revere the eledrin as demi-gods, which forced the distrusting twelve out of the elven kingdom and far to the southern tip of the westergreen.

The journey of Hyacinth

after hearing rumors of a thirteenth Eledrin roaming the world, Hyacinth decided to leave her place among the twelve to investigate these claims. After many months of travel, she finally found her way to south twin lake (after stealing a chest from a group of untrusting bandits left it unguarded to duel one another). Once there, she met Arferth who led her to Mindartis (who was relaxing out on the lake during his only day away from his apprentices of privateering). after fifteen minutes of waiting for mindartis to come back to shore, Arferth led Hyacinth back to the courtyard garden behind the PC’s mansion and allowed her to wait by the oak tree for mindartis to arrive. When he finally did show up, there was a brief exchanging of words between the two.

an adventure into my first real attempt at DM'ing

we left off last time at the church of the falling skies, this time, we pick up shortly before, with the legend of Darryl the keeper of waters.

the search begins
the adventuring party, having just been released from their indentured servitude began to explore the area around South Twin Lake and began by making their way to the easternmost ruins on the map they were provided. on the way, the party encountered a series of bridges that gapped the two rivers that flowed south. the first was guarded by a large two-headed beast; taller than a man that wielded a great tree trunk as a club. he required the group to answer a riddle to pass over the bridge, which the party quickly obliged to. having beaten the riddle, the party crossed to the second bridge, which was guarded by not one, not two, but three trolls (Per Pallando‘s request). Having dispatched the trolls, the party decided to investigate for treasure under the bridge, and found a large chest tied below. upon opening it, they found the head of Darryl, a solid gold head with gems set in the eye sockets. Darryl began speaking to the party and explained that he didn’t know what he was, but that he needed to find the rest of his body and that he could control any water he got close to. the group, having found treasure, decided to leave and go back to South Twin Lake.

The next piece of Darryl was recovered during the split of the falling skies. while the people of south twin lake were arguing amongst themselves, Klaus asked for their idol, which just so happened to be Darryl’s right leg. while unattached, the leg hovered in walking motions underneath Darryl’s head.

the third piece of Darryl found was by Mindartis during a favor for the league of Baenroc. while the league was away, mindartis was allowed to search through the dungeon below the castle and found Darryl’s torso. when contact was made, Darryl’s head fused seamlessly with the torso, and returned some of his memories: that he was created by Davrik and a brief history of where he was created, Arterra. shortly afterward, Darryl’s leg fused with the rest of him revealing where the second leg of the journey to Arterra would start and which direction to go in.

the fourth piece of Darryl was recovered during a trip to West March Village where the Saurians were using his left arm as a magic item that irrigated their orchards and fruit crops during the dry months. the party helped devise a system of canals as a substitute and were allowed to reclaim Darryl’s left arm. after fusing the arm back onto his body, Darryl remembered that he was supposed to be providing the city of Arterra with fresh water. frantic to return home, Darryl begged the party to do what they could to find the rest of his body: his right arm and left leg. so far, no progress has been made towards that goal.

miscellaneous happenings in the world
during the party’s travels, they met a rowdy group of leprechauns with extreme magical power. during their first few encounters, the party began hearing bagpipes (pumped out of the speakers on their amazing DM’s laptop) right before being attacked by hoards upon hoards of skeletons. if the skeletons didn’t knock them out, a powerful sleep spell did, and the party found themselves robbed of their gold. eventually, the party happened across a small box within the mausoleum that held a small group of mariachi skeletons within. in a stroke of genius, the party took the chest to the leprechauns and worked out a lifetime pass through the leprechauns territory.

in the meantime, A group of Grey Orcs from the far north came down and settled in the ruins of North Twin Lake village, reinforcing it and claiming it as their own. the green orcs, wary of the newcomers, asked the party to investigate the new tribe and, if able, join them in the human-orc pact. The party, now well equipped and practically swimming in money, obliged the green orcs and made their way to north twin lake. while there, each member had their fortunes told by an old grizzled orc woman, and bought a round of Dragon’s Blood Ale. during a meeting with the leader of the tribe, they convinced the Pelt Tribe to join the pact and peace was made.

an adventure into my first real attempt at DM'ing

The hero’s gauntlet started five years ago as a small group get-together between Mike, The DM, a friend (whose name will be omitted for now), and that friend’s little brother. The original maps were crude, and the game ran slowly as Mike tried to figure out all the rules of the fourth edition. It began something like this:

p. The first session
Our adventure began with the first two players, Mindartis the paladin and Heian the fighter, washing up on a deserted island. Each had been sailing around the vast world, although each had completely separate reasons for doing so. Heian (a half-elf) made his living honestly, sailing as a guard on one of the many trading vessels that made their ways across the vast expanses that separated each of the races from one another; a last ditch effort from the gods to save each race from the magic wars. the ship he was on ran into a storm that blew it hundreds of miles of course and across the rocks of the uncharted island. Mindartis (the last eledrin), on the other hand, was a Pirate captain, mutinied against for stealing the crew’s share of the treasures they collected. he was cast overboard by his first mate, smee, and left for dead. undeterred by this, Mindartis grabbed onto some of the drifting debris from his ship, vowed that he’d take his revenge, and was carried to the shores of the island. Mindartis quickly met up with Heian near a clearing and the two unlikely partners allied to overcome their situations and survive on the small island.
p.
p. the escape
p. it was within that first summer’s worth of sessions that the group grew as more and more people washed ashore on the lonely island. Joining mindartis and Heian were Corrin Ale-drinker (a Halfling rogue in search of the finest ingredients the world had to offer), Darkspear (a dragonborn fighter with a short attention span), Klaus (an elven ranger), Andrea (an elven cleric), Aleki (a Halfling ranger), and more, whos names were lost during the turmoil that followed. The group of stranded adventurers found a cave high on the volcanic mountain that stood over the island, and decided to explore. it was there they found the gate. Before them stood a great doorway in the middle of the cavern, inscribed with ancient dwarven runes. in a stroke of luck, one of the adventurers remembered they knew dwarven and found that there were six relays that had to be activated for the door to transport them to civilization. Six tunnels led out of that cavern, dripping with salt water that had leaked in from the oceans above, and Mindartis surmised that each tunnel must lead to a relay. over the next few days, the party fought their ways through each of the six tunnels and their corresponding islands and activated each switch. When the final relay was activated, they were all ready to leave. They rushed back to the doorway, and leapt through. The other side was a shimmering corridor, with an exit blocked by three more monstrous creatures, which were quickly dispatched by the surviving members of the party. the exit led them out into the dwarven capital, where they were brought to the king.
p.
p. The rollback
p. It was about this time that I (mike) found fourth edition tiring, and overcomplicated, and rolled back to second edition with the help of Corrin’s player; my dad. the transition did come with some complications though, but everything was smoothed over within a few sessions.
p.
p. The Forbidden Continent
p. Back to the story. The king of the dwarves thanked the party for their service in restoring the connection between their capital and the island, and allowed them provisions for whatever they chose to do next. Unsure of their next step, the party made a collective decision to split up and explore the capital, whilst simultaneously looking for something to do. The rumor of the Forbidden Continent reached those who had decided to go to the bar first. A ship had returned to the port city to the south that claimed they had been blown off course and ended up at an unfamiliar island. Upon further exploration during repairs, they found that it was in fact, the original continent the gods had banished all humanoids from after the magic wars. Adventerurs were needed to return to the continent, which had been sealed for over 2000 years, to protect the colonists that were flooding back to reclaim their ancestral homes. The party met back up and agreed to follow this rumor where it led. after their arrival at the dwarven port, Mindartis noticed his ship was moored there, and broke away to investigate. Smee had become a ruthless pirate captain in Mindartis’s absence and easily repelled Mindartis’s attacks by using gunpowder (A recent discovery by pirates for pirates). the group couldn’t retrieve mindartis’s ship, and were forced to charter a vessel to the new continent.
p.
p. The voyage was long, but they made it successfully to the southern colony on the newly opened continent. There, they discovered that Thick rainforest had grown over the massive cities that had once stood unopposed by growth. Dungeons and ruins exploration teams were formed, and the party formed their own, quickly finding remnants of the old wars; powerful magic weapons and armor that both aided and cursed them. During these explorations, They met Enteri (The human ranger), Dave (the human fighter), Fabio (an elven cleric with delusions of being a faceless centaur), Zanne (a human thief), and Pallando (an elven mage). during one of the many dungeon crawls, Pallando found a sacrificial dagger; a remnant from the magic wars and a very powerful, intelligent weapon. It demanded the souls of the creatures pallando killed, and promised immeasurable power in return. blinded by the awesome power of the dagger, Pallando agreed and began questing not only for souls, but also the four other pieces of what the dagger called the Belial Set; and find them he did. during another dungeon crawl of the same dungeon, Belial’s robes were found.
p.
p. The problem at hand
p. the thing people should be aware of at this point is that we had decided to play for a full 24 hour period and I didn’t sleep. it was around now that I started feeling those effects.
p.
p. The solution
we had one last dungeon crawl during that 24 hour period wherein the party came across a note on the wall. it simply read “Overthinking.” while the party was reading it, there was a flash of bright light, then everything went dark.
p.
p. A year passed while I came up with a solution to overpowering my PC’s so early in the game. then, around Christmastime, I received my answer. OSRIC. it was time for another roll-back in the rules.
p.
p. The Return of heroes
p. When the heroes awoke, they wore nothing but standard garments, and had nothing but 100 gold. Corrin retained one of his daggers, but everyone else was defenseless. Upon exiting this unfamiliar dungeon, they were captured by an adventuring party that demanded to know how they managed to enter their secured compound. The party, unsure of how to answer, asked for their bonds to be cut so they could leave and figure out where they were. The adventuring party, Now known as The League of Baenroc, obliged and cut the party free, supplying them with leather armor and a few basic weapons under the condition that they work as indentured servants. The Party’s first task was to scout out the land and report back the status of the two villages to the north; North Twin Lake village and South Twin lake village. North Twin lake village, being the one further out on the map the league had supplied, was the first objective for the party, who found it completely burned and pillaged by a tribe of Orcs. Unsure of where the orcs were, the party decided to sprint down to South Twin Lake before it could suffer a similar fate.
p.
p. Upon arriving at South Twin Lake village, the party was surprised to find it both completely unguarded, but also unaware that orcs had been raiding in the area. The Village leaders thanked the party for the information and asked for a solution to the problem. build a wall was the best solution the party could come up with, and so the village began quarrying out a siege shelter, using the stone to reinforce a temporary palisade wall. meanwhile, the party came up with a plan to kill some of the mounted orcs, rip up the bodies to make it look like something large had killed them, and dump them in a nearby river where other orcs could find them. against all odds, they managed to do so quickly. By now, (several months of game time had passed during training and leveling up periods) the wall rose about ten feet high and stood six feet thick around the whole of the village that didn’t border the lake to the north.
p.
p. a few days later, the orcs came to the wall under a banner of peace. the orcs explained that they believed that something was destroying them in the area and that an alliance would be necessary to defend against it. The combined signatures of the Orc leader, The League of Baenroc, The heroes of the adventuring party, and the Village’s leaders brought the two races together. The orcs offered to build a cobblestone road around the lake to their village to the north, as well as set up some shop tents outside the walls to the east of south twin lake. in addition, the orcs would also share the secret of Bows with the humans living there, as they had not discovered them yet. The adventuring party, now released from their servitude to the League, was allowed to use one of the larger buildings near the front gate of South Twin Lake as a base of operations and a home.
p.
p. The new Delve
p. The adventurers were still in poor equipment, so they decided to see what they could scrounge up. Still unsure of where exactly they were, they went to the bar and asked about what year it was. the barkeep, told them, and the party found out they had been transported back in time 5000 years to before both the magic wars, and the Aven-Dur: the event that created the legends of the modern gods. instead, a singular church existed, The Church of the Falling Skies, which worshipped something that had impacted the ground nearby and over hundreds of years created the lake. In addition to this information, the group also received word of evil afoot in the South Twin Lake Crypts, which could only be accessed by way of the mausoleum. Upon finding the mausoleum, they noticed a wanted poster nailed into the marble wall. it read, “Wanted: Donstag the Trickster. Dead or Alive.” underneath was a picture of a skull with jewels for eyes, and a sly skeletal grin. The party, desperate for money, agreed to explore the crypts and get the rewards for catching donstag. the first few floors were uneventful, a few giant rats here, a purple worm or two there, some executioners’ hoods in some rooms. as they descended into the third level, they were greeted with faint sounds of music.
p.
p. further investigation of the floor led them to a large room full of skeletons with a live band and an open bar. Corrin decided to buy a few drinks, and the party was welcomed into the mariachi skeleton dance-club. there were no encounters with donstag, but plenty of silver, gold, copper, and even platinum was recovered from the aging crypts, allowing the party to re-outfit themselves with the weapons and armor of their choice.
p.
p. The Split of the Church of the Falling Skies A.K.A, The Aven-Dur
p. Out of all the Player Characters within the heroes gauntlet, none stood out as much as Darkspear, who, for all intents and purposes, was still a dragon-man with a lightning breath weapon. one day, he decided to show off, and used his last use of his breath for the day on the lake, electrifying it briefly. At night, the lake gave off an unearthly glow which radiated from the deepest part of the crystal clear waters. the next morning, the group decided to investigate by rowing out to the middle of the lake and using one of Fabio’s clerical spells to allow Klaus and Darkspear to dive down and figure out what was going on. 300 feet below the surface of the lake, Klaus and Darkspear found that there was a light, brighter than a lantern, attached to some sort of ceramic tile floor. The more silt they brushed aside, the larger the thing seemed to become. Unfortunately for them, the spell wore off faster than they anticipated, and they had to return to the surface before they found out what it was.
p.
p. a few game months passed as the party continued searching for donstag in the crypts, unsuccessfully, before the lights went out and the noises started. From deep beneath the lake bed, there came noises like steel bending and whales calling across the vast oceans for each other. the Party was immediately summoned to investigate further, but nothing could be done; that is, until the people of south twin lake began getting sick. Hair was falling out, sores began to open on people’s skin and leak reddish-brown pus, and all manner of sneezing and coughing was sprouting up. Klaus was the first to notice that the water had started to darken, becoming a murky grey color instead of it’s normal clear, and asked that everyone boil the water before they drank from then on. three days later, the lake foamed up and was once again crystal clear.
p.
p. Another month passed as the adventurers tended to their own lives and duties as protectors of south twin lake before something bobbed up from the bottom of the lake. The town’s mayor joined the party at the docks as the cylindrical object floated closer to shore. an hour passed as it slowly made its way to them. once it arrived, there was a hissing noise, and two men stepped out of it and onto the dock. the first asked what year it was, and upon finding out, gasped. they stepped back into their capsule, and invited the party to get in. the capsule dove down to the bottom of the lake and entered a small cave, that opened up into a large room. the first man spoke, “Welcome to the ship. we must’ve been trapped here for a long time. there are eight of us down here.” after a brief tour, the second man spoke to mindartis, “Mindartis, huh? tell me, are you of any relation to the scourge captain that went missing?” mindartis replied that he was in fact that captain, and the second man gasped. “you exist far too early then. you shouldn’t even be born for another few thousand years! when our ship malfunctioned, it must’ve dragged you back, too!”
p.
p. the party and the mayor left the ship shortly afterward, buzzing with the news of the new arrivals, and with plans on how to get back to their time-line. the mayor, however, ran straight to the church to proclaim the new arrivals of the new gods to their land. Gods with powers far beyond the understanding of humans. almost immediately, groups were formed that believed separately in each of these “new gods” and left south twin lake to form new settlements with other like-minded people. Those of whom practiced polytheism stayed in South Twin Lake. merchants and craftsmen from other races flooded into the town to fill the vacant houses, creating a midway point between the major cities of other races and establishing South Twin Lake as a trading city.

The adventure log is where you list the sessions and adventures your party has been on, but for now, we suggest doing a very light “story so far” post. Just give a brief overview of what the party has done up to this point. After each future session, create a new post detailing that night’s adventures.

One final tip: Don’t stress about making your Obsidian Portal campaign look perfect. Instead, just make it work for you and your group. If everyone is having fun, then you’re using Obsidian Portal exactly as it was designed, even if your adventure log isn’t always up to date or your characters don’t all have portrait pictures.